Monday, August 29, 2016

I didn't even know he was hospitalized and learned of his passing from the newspaper's obituary column.

This era marked the beginning of modern fame, when the media began paying intense interest in a diverse range of stars (People magazine, for example, was launched in 1974). As this first generation of celebrities near the end of their lives, it’s only natural that more and more recognizeable names appear in the obituary column.

Alfred Nobel had the unique opportunity of reading his own obituary. One day he opened the newspaper and saw his name in the obituary column. It had been printed by mistake, of course, but Nobel was distressed that he was remembered as the man who created dynamite, something used for mass destruction. Nobel decided to make some dramatic changes in his life. Wanting to change what people would remember him for, he went on to create the Nobel Peace Prize.